Cartier Takes Its Gemstones to Kyoto

Cartier has unveiled the second chapter of Le Choeur des Pierres, its high jewellery collection built around the character of individual gemstones, at the Kyoto National Museum. The 46 new pieces follow 130 shown in Saint-Tropez in April. A third chapter in Hawaii next year will bring the total to 250 jewels, objects and timepieces, making it the house's largest lineup yet.

The idea behind it was set out by Jacqueline Karachi-Langane, Director of High Jewellery Creation. "Letting a stone speak is to recognise in it a memory of the world," she said. At Cartier, the stone's shape, colour and history are the starting point for each design.

The centrepiece was Stellara, a necklace set with a 41.01-carat Ceylon sapphire in a graphic openwork composition. It was worn by K-pop star Jisoo at a dinner attended by director Sofia Coppola and Japanese actors Mio Imada, Nanako Matsushima, Haruka Ayase, Ryo Yoshizawa and Kento Kaku. Coppola also featured in a Cartier Cinema Club session staged after the reveal.

Other highlights included Tipaza, a necklace of three ruby bead strands finished with two briolette diamonds totalling 7.36 carats, and Patellia, earrings set with two brown diamonds totalling 11.32 carats, mounted pavilion-up, the reverse of convention. Tutti Chaya, a necklace in the house's tutti frutti tradition, took nearly 2,000 hours to make by hand.

Loose gemstones were also displayed, including a 17-carat fancy intense yellow diamond, a Colombian no-oil emerald of nearly 15 carats, a pair of kite-shaped rubellites and a rare trio of Kashmir sapphires.

Alexa Abitbol, Director of the High Jewellery Workshops, pointed to the craft behind the pieces: "a dialogue between each artisan and each craft." Tutti Chaya, a necklace in the house's tutti frutti tradition, took nearly 2,000 hours to make, 1,400 of them in goldsmithing, entirely by hand.

Cartier has had a presence in Japan since opening a Harajuku boutique in Tokyo in 1974. Last year it opened a four-storey boutique in Ginza, which houses its first Résidence, a private salon and dining space, in the country.